QUOTE OF THE DAY
Italian Proverb
>“Once the game is over, the King and the pawn go back in the same box.”
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FUTURE TENSE
I’m just finishing Future Tense by Canadian journalist Gwynne Dyer. Dyer is best known here for a documentary series called War that ran in the mid 80’s.
Future Tense proposes that the invasion of Iraq is a carefully planned step in the US’s plan to implement the Pax Americana project. Dyer contends that the American political leadership is artificially inflating the danger of terrorist attacks in order to convince the public that the US must wage war against a number of countries that do not share it’s values and ideals.
Thought provoking and compelling, Future Tense paints a gloomy picture of the “Last Superpower” waging a campaign against the United Nations in order to secure its position as the world’s policeman. Today Iraq, tomorrow Iran or North Korea. The danger that one of these “rogue nations” may unleash its nuclear arsenal should cause great concern around the world.
George Santayana once wrote “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it”. The Roman Empire was built on the same beliefs that power Pax Americana. The only difference is the weaponry available.
THE WAR ON SPAM CONTINUES
In an attempt to combat the on-going spam problem that all blogs suffer from, I’ve just added a plugin to WordPress called “Spam-Karma” that promises to cut down the number of system automated comments for all sorts of nasty stuff.
I would appreciate it if readers would try it out by leaving a comment on this posting. Let me know how it treated you. If for some reason it won’t let you comment, click on my email link above and let me know what problems you encountered.
HEADING HOME
Just a couple of hours to go and then it’s time to board for the trip home.
We went into downtown Atlanta last night for dinner. A nice Italian meal and back to the hotel early. I hit the sack around 9:30 and was out like a light.
Take me home Delta and make it snappy.
AT LAST IN ATLANTA
And you think your day sucked? Yesterday, I boarded 3 aircraft, went from below zero cold to driving rain, endured a missed approach into Atlanta and had 2 hotel rooms in a 15 minute period. My day began at 3:30 yesterday morning and ended at 2:00 am this morning.
We flew from Montreal to LaGuardia airport in New York city and, after a 1 hour layover, plodded on to Atlanta. The approach into the airport here was accompanied by lightning and zero visibility in heavy rain and the pilots had to go around because there was a problem with “clearance with ground traffic” whatever that means. We ended up getting in over 1/2 hour late. A long, long walk through the terminal and then an extended wait to get to the rental car yard was doing nothing for my mood. Finally got the car and then headed off to the Mariott where they initially couldn’t find my reservation. When they did, they put me in a beautiful suite on the top floor. Only one problem - no bed. Got that straightened out and they put me in another room. Only one problem - no smoking allowed. I’d just gone through nearly 8 hours without a smoke so I really didn’t need that. I guess I could have changed again but at 2 AM I was more interested in sleep than nicotine.
Hopefully today goes better.
MONTREAL MOMENT
Just a minute to dash off a quick update on this week’s trip. Writing this from our office in Montreal. Damm, it’s cold here.
Tonight it’s off to Atlanta through New York City. We’ll finally get into the hotel around midnight. This is going to be one long day, I was awake around 3:30 this morning to get ready for an early flight out of Toronto and by the time the day ends I’ll be dragging my tail.
The airlines may be hurting for money but it certainly isn’t because they’re having trouble putting bums in the seats. Flew down here on a 767 which isn’t a small aircraft and there weren’t many empty seats. A stale danish and warm orange juice isn’t my idea of a good breakfast but what do I expect in this day and age of “efficient” air travel.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Hunter S Thompson (1937-2005)
> “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.”
Rest In Peace HST. The mojo wire will be silent forever.
SAME SEX, DIFFERENT DAY
I’ve held off from commenting on the legislation now painfully making it through Parliment that would permit same-sex marriages across Canada. The static in the air that this issue has generated is deafening.
Ontario, as well as other provinces, has accepted these unions for some time and I was honored to attend the reception for a couple who took advantage of this province’s forward thinking. Having their status made legal has been a tremendous comfort to them. Imagine rushing to the hospital to see your life partner only to be told that you could not enter the ICU because you were not officially recognized as a “member of the immediate family”. In this enlightened day and age there’s absolutely no reason for such medieval thinking.
Whether the federal blessing is given or not, I can’t see any province going backwards - imagine the legal ramifications. We can only hope that our representatives in Ottawa use their hearts and minds instead of the puritanical views they grew up with.
SOMETHING LOOKS DIFFERENT
I’ve just updated the WordPress software that handles this blog and I’m having trouble with my style sheet so, for a while, you’ll just have to put up with the boring old default.
Update: well I’ve got some of the old stuff back and I sorta like the look of the posting section. I’ll probably still mess around and screw it up later but for now I think I’ll leave it like this.
THE REVOLVING DOOR
Getting to the point where I’ll need to have a bag packed at all times.
No sooner do I get back from Florida then it’s time for another road trip. Wednesday morning I’m off to Montreal for the day and then off to Atlanta the same night. One day there and back to Toronto on Friday morning. Working on getting a new client set up on our system so I have to visit a couple of sites where they’re already operating.
This will be my second time in Atlanta, I was last there just after the 96 Olympics wound down. If I remember correctly, there’s a good rib joint in the area called the Underground. Have to see if I can find it again.
Air Canada to Montreal and then Delta down to Georgia and back.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Neil Armstrong
>“I believe that every human has a finite number of heart-beats. I don’t intend to waste any of mine running around doing exercises.”
SUNDAY’S PICTURE
Flamingos at SeaWorld Orlando. Click to enlarge.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER
To say that the Kennedy Space Center is “out of this world” may seem to be just a bad pun but I really don’t know of any other way to describe it. The scale is mind boggling and the sense of history is so pervasive that it is like a gigantic museum except that history is still being written.
!@(launchcontrol.jpg:R240 http://www.eyeno.net/photoblog/albums/userpics/10001/launchcontrol.jpg “launch control”) In this photo we see Launch Complex 39B through the palms at the site of the original launch control center used for the Apollo missions. On May 15, the space shuttle Discovery will roar off LC 39B marking the first flight since the loss of the Columbia on February 1, 2003. Discovery will be delivering a module to the International Space Station (ISS). (click on any image to enlarge)
!@—
!@(launchpad39b_2.jpg:L240 http://www.eyeno.net/photoblog/albums/userpics/10001/launchpad39b_2.jpg “LC 39B”) Launch Complexes 39A and 39B went into service in the 60’s to handle the Saturn V rockets used in the Apollo program. In use ever since, the pads now serve the Shuttle program exclusively. The large structure on the left is the 402 foot tall Mobile Service Structure which rotates out of the way just prior to launch. Not a simple process as it weighs 9.4 million pounds. This is as close as we were able to get. Access to sensitive areas has been severly curtailed post 9/11. NASA offers a bus tour called “NASA Up Close” that provides a 3 hour escorted tour allowing the closest observation of the Launch Complex as well as the Vehicle Assembly Building, the ISS Center and the Shuttle landing strip.
!@—
!@(launchpad39a_2.jpg:R240 http://www.eyeno.net/photoblog/albums/userpics/10001/launchpad39a_2.jpg “LC 39A”) In this picture we see Launch Complex 39A and off in the distance you can just make out the massive Vehicle Assembly Building where the shuttle is mated with its solid rocket boosters and external tank before moving to the pad on the giant Crawler Transporter. Two CTs were built in 1965 and each one is capable of moving the shuttle from the VAB to the pad a 1 mile per hour. Not fast but not bad when you consider that the shuttle and the mobile launch platform that it sits on weighs in at a hefty 12 million pounds. The distance traveled is 3.5 miles to pad A and 4 miles to pad B. The road it travels on is as wide as an 8 lane highway. (picture available in the gallery)
!@—
!@(vab3.jpg:L240 http://www.eyeno.net/photoblog/albums/userpics/10001/vab3.jpg “Vehicle Assembly Building”) The Vehicle Assembly Building is the most impressive structure at KSC. A few numbers to ponder: The VAB covers 3.25 hectares (8 acres). It is 160 meters (525 ft) tall, 218 meters (716 ft) long and 158 meters (518 ft) wide. It encloses 3,664,883 cubic meters (129,428,000 cubic feet) of space. The American flag was painted in 1976 using 6000 gallons of paint. Each star is 6 feet from tip to tip and the blue backqround is the size of an NBA basketball court. Visible in the picture is the damage sustained in last year’s hurricanes.
!@—
Check out more pictures over in my gallery (link at top of page). If you’re ever in Florida I would highly recommend spending a day at the Kennedy Space Center. Book one of the tours and be prepared to spend as much time as possible. There’s a lot to see and I guarantee you a great time.
A QUICK LOOK
Locked in meeting rooms all day, it’s sometimes hard to remember that I’m actually in Florida instead of cold Toronto. Got a chance to walk around at lunch yesterday so I took one quick picture. Nothing special but it does prove I’m somewhere warm.
HELLO FROM ORLANDO
Well, I made it. Actually there were absolutely no problems with the flight, the rental car or the check-in at the hotel. Other than the lunacy of paying $10 US a day for internet accesss, everything went really well.
Spent a few hours at the bar (indoor because it was “too cold” for the bar at the pool to open) and then of to the meet and greet for the conference. Nice to see some old friends and meet some new acquaintances. Quiet night tonight and then right into it tomorrow.
PACKING DAY
One more day and it’s off to Orlando so today is filled with all the mundane preparations necessary. Haircut, laundry and packing.
Not sure how many alarms my suitcase is going to set off at the airport. 2 digital cameras with chargers and all the cords and cables I need to make sure my laptop will connect to the net and the projector for my presentations.
Since I’m going to be a way for Valentine’s day, stopped this morning to get Jan a dozen of her favorite roses and we’ll go out for dinner tonight.
I’VE HAD IT!
Ok, that’s it. I’ve turned off comments and trackbacks. The spammers have won. In the next few days I’ll try to come up with a spam-proof method of contacting me via email. If you comment, I’ll put it in a post.
SUPER SUNDAY - POST MORTEM
Super Bowl XXXIX is history. My impressions:
>Good game! Very close and pretty exciting. A welcome change.
>Nope, didn’t see any commericals worth remembering but, of course, we didn’t get the US feed.
>Half Time show was great. McCartney was in fine form.
>Yep, Fox waved the flag a few times but not so much that you wanted to throw up.
And the best part? I won $250 in the pool at the bar.
SUPER SUNDAY
Once again Super Bowl Sunday arrives. The NFL deserves congratulations for taking a football game that usually isn’t very exciting and turning it into the biggest day in sports. Millions, if not billions, of people who probably can’t tell you who is playing will be glued to their TVs around the world to watch a spectacle that gets more amazing every year.
Super Bowl XXXIX (or 39 for those of you who are Roman numerically challenged) is being played in Jackonsville Florida and pits the Philadelphia Eagles against the New England Patriots. The Pats are widely favored to beat the Eagles and pigskin prognosticators see a possible blowout. A blowout makes for bad football and the Super Bowl is famous for delivering some real stinkers. So why do so many people watch this thing?
The first reason is the commercials. Advertisers pay millions to capture eyeballs and if there’s one thing they know, humor sells. Back in the dot.com boom, we had 30 second spots that involved cat herders and performing monkeys. The problem is, half the time you have no real idea what they’re trying to sell. The other problem here in Canada is that the local networks override the US feed to subject us to uniformly horrible local ads. Whether they’re pushing some sitcom that needs a lot of help or it’s the Canadian Tire guy and his annoying family trying to sell us the latest product that is going to make our lives so much easier, the commercials bite, blow and suck. No problem, tomorrow morning all the million dollar US ads will be on the internet.
The second reason to watch the Super Bowl and its hours of pre-game blather is to glory in the excess that is US entertainment. Just when you think that they must have run out of angles, background stories and self-serving flag waving, they manage to pull out something else that just makes you say “Wow!”. I’m confident in speculating that we’ll see some tearjerking piece about one of the players who has a family member serving in Iraq and is the bravest person ever to serve in the best fighting force the world has ever seen. Not that this family member would ever fire a shot in anger - heaven forbid.
After about 6 hours of this crap, we’ll finally get to the big game. The gladiators will keep us occupied while we wait for the next ad and the HALF TIME SHOW. Paul McCartney is the headliner this year so I guess we won’t have any repeat of last year’s “wardrobe malfunction” that caused the whole world to go crazy and probably signalled the fall of modern civilization. At least that’s what the FCC told us.
I’m not immune to the hype and have no plans to sit at home reading a weighty volume extolling the virtues of macro economics with a smug look on my face. Hell no, I’ll be at Jake’s Boathouse smoking cigars, swilling Heinekens and laughing along with everyone else while the Budweiser Clydesdales play hockey or something equally ridiculous.
If we’re really lucky, a decent football game might actually find a way to sneak its way into the proceedings.
GO PATS!!
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